Dd1 was induced as she was nearly two weeks overdue. Several attempts at a sweep had failed (my cervix was too far back) so I was admitted to hospital. After one pessary in the evening, it started and was pooling along ok, but the morning midwife felt it needed more, so did a second pessary. That was awful. Labour kicked in ridiculously, I was in huge amounts of pain and nobody came near me for two hours (apparently it was handover time) even though I had been hooked up to a monitor and couldn't go to them. I called DH in, who brought me some water (didn't even have that nearby) and managed to rouse a midwife. She refused to give me pain relief (I only had a tens up until then) until I had eaten breakfast, despite my protestations that I would be sick if I ate. I choked down some cereal, promptly threw it up, then asked for the gas and air I had been promised. It did nothing for me, and I was getting beyond it by this point but the midwife just came and shouted at me for being silly and told me it was going to get much worse. That last incident is literally the only thing I remember in a three hour period. The end of this three hour period was marked by an incredibly painful internal examination when I was grudgingly told I was 4cm and therefore could go to the labour ward (I had been on the antenatal ward up until this point). I was wheeled there by DH, went to the toilet, was examined again (as I had asked for an epidural) and was told off for not saying that my waters had broken, a fact I didn't know and later was assumed to have happened when I went to the toilet. Anaesthetist arrived, did the fastest epidural known to humankind due to me not being able to keep still for very long (something else the midwife shouted at me for), and then peace descended. I was at 10cm a couple of hours later but was then left for an astonishing six hours while they waited for something to happen. When it didn't, they put up a syntocinon drip, got stirrups, and eventually - eight hours after being fully dilated - delivered my dd by ventouse. As my room filled with people, not one introduced themselves to me, nor did anyone say congratulations or tell me even that dd was a girl, was healthy or how much she weighed. I asked to hold her and then was told I needed surgery for a third degree rectal tear. Went into theatre, came out to find a terrified DH clutching dd, then was taken up to the ward where I did quite well until a midwife bustled in a few hours later (it was the middle of the night) telling me off for not picking up dd quickly enough to feed her. As she handed her to me, she knocked the cot and my epidural meant that the morning midwife found me four hours later sitting in bed clutching dd. Once discharged the rectal tear tore again and I ended up - after a year of pain and many humiliating examinations - with more surgery, which then became infected.
It was not a good experience.
Dd2 was better. Went back to the same hospital (I think I wanted to right some bad memories) for another induction, this time a week early because of SPD. It went ok, though again it all kicked in a bit quickly and I struggled with the pain and examinations. At 3cm, the midwife gave me pethidine, which did nothing for the pain but made me fully dilated in 20 minutes,though it took me screaming "I want to push" for anyone to examine me and realise that was what had happened. Went it labour ward (yep, on antenatal again), but my SPD meant I couldn't get my legs apart to deliver dd, so they left me with a student midwife and no pain relief while they went to find someone who could do a ventouse. Two hours later, they found someone and dd2 came out. This time they did say congratulations! However, I was left in the labour room because the ward was full. They hadn't cleaned it, so there was blood and used swabs everywhere, including on the bed and floor. I sat in a chair next to DD's cot for seven hours until a bed was found (and she was born at 5am). Nobody came near me in that time.
Never again.